I'm all for moving Stubbs.
The offense has been better since Stubbs went out because Valdez has been raking. I guess the smart thing to do is to play Valdez everyday in CF and expect him to hit 200 points over his career OPS.
Hoping to change my username to 75769023
Why? What good will it do?
You're not going to get a better outfielder for him, and that's what the Reds need. They don't need pitching. They need bench players and a legit starting OF. Rather just make Stubbs a bench player for now then trade him for a Willie Bloomquist type.
Hoping to change my username to 75769023
No. But playing Heisey there isn't much of a drop off if any at all.
And if you do make a move for Willingham and Span...
Span
Phillips
Votto
Willingham
Bruce
Frazier/Rolen
Cozart
Hanigan/Mesoraco
Looks a whole lot better than
Cozart
Stubbs
Votto
Phillips
Bruce
Rolen/Frazier
Ludwick/Heisey
Hanigan/Mesoraco
Obviously not. But there is a serious question raised by this thread.
The whole group for 3B, LF, and CF is Stubbs, Rolen, Ludwick, Heisey, Valdez, Cairo, Frazier.
I think it's fair to say that the two outstanding defenders in the group are Rolen and Stubbs. In that regard, they will improve the team when they return.
But this thread raises the serious question whether the offense, which is now going well, will be helped by playing Rolen and Stubbs every day. I'm not sure of the answer.
Can Rolen hit any more? Will Stubbs curtail his strikeouts and hit well, as he has in spots this year? Are the Reds better off with Frazier at third? With Heisey in CF and Valdez as his backup? If Frazier plays LF, do the Reds lose some power by sitting Ludwick? Should the Reds take this whole group, trade some, keep some, and come up with a new allignment?
These are questions worthy of discussion. It's just not so obvious that Rolen/Stubbs makes this a better team right now.
I'm not against trading Stubbs for a decent bat/arm, but I don't think a Heisey/Valdez/Harris/whoever platoon would be especially better offensively and almost certainly not defensively.
“I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”
I'd give Rolen a real look at 3b with Frazier in left, at the same time giving Ludwick and Heisey enough AB's to keep improving. Stubbs, IMO, should be the first odd man out. It's too early to deal him, but I'd start making preliminary inquiries.
Stubbs + prospect for Carlos Quentin. Padres get something for a rental. Reds overpay but get their legit righthanded cleanup hitter with good career OBP in the .340-.350 range. Reds rid themselves of the outfield logjam and what to do with Stubbs/Heisey situation.
Rolen comes back, figures out after 30 to 40 games he's toast, and retires for the good of the team. Frazier moves back to 3B.
SS Cozart
2B Phillips
1B Votto
LF Quentin
RF Bruce
CF Heisey
3B Rolen/Frazier
C Haniraco
Offenses explodes even more.
Add a lefty bat to the mix. Deal Prospects for Dejesus (Lotzkar and Christiani is where I'd start). Deal Ludwick for salary relief since he's mostly just a lefty killer and the Reds have those coming out their ears.
Against LHP, Rolen at 3B, Frazier in LF and Stubbs in CF. Bruce and Heisey split time in RF 50/50.
Against RHP Rolen at 3B 50% of the time, Frazier 50% of the time. The Acquisition (Dejesus) in LF 100% of the time. Heisey and Stubbs each get 50% of the time in CF.
Once in a while Rolen gets and extra day off with Cairo getting a start.
For it to work, the team needs to switch Ludwick out for a LH Bat (Dejesus).
Lacking an acquisition, then the PAs against RHP in LF are split between Frazier and Ludwick with Ludwick only playing when Frazier is playing 3B or needs a day-off.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
What teams?
San Fran maybe. Not the Dodgers. Diamondbacks already have big bats.
St. Louis has plenty of big bats with Beltran and Holiday. Pirates won't pony up prospects or pay enough.
Nationals are set. Miami is set. Mets and Braves are fading. Mets have salary/money problems to begin with.
Tigers have enough big bats. Indians are fading. Rangers are set with big bats.
Yankees are set. Tampa won't do anything. Toronto has Bautista and EE.
I really don't see a HUGE market where all these so-called teams are lining up to add a big bat. Especially a rental.
Personally, I think the Reds should strike now and maybe overpay a little bit to get it done. Then let's put some distance between us and the Central.
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |